Working on apple trees today and noticed I have 2 Lodi and 2
Zestar that are second leaf trees that the field mice seem to have
Chewed the entire base of the tree up. The trees have buds and are leading
out fine but I can't imagine they will make it. What are your thoughts?
I have photos on I - phone, but no computer at the farm to download them to the web site.

Photobucket has an iphone app, makes getting images from phone to net easy. Make a photobucket account first.

I would imagine if the mice ate all the bark all around the base of the tree, then it will eventually die. It most likely will sucker like mad this summer, but pics and some other opinions are needed as I have not experienced this yet.

Working on apple trees today and noticed I have 2 Lodi and 2
Zestar that are second leaf trees that the field mice seem to have
Chewed the entire base of the tree up. The trees have buds and are leading
out fine but I can't imagine they will make it. What are your thoughts?
I have photos on I - phone, but no computer at the farm to download them to the web site.

Sorry to say that if it's girdled all the way down near the roots or below graft union you are done. I had the same issue last year and Alan from Cummins told me it might have leves the first year but that kind of damage would probably be fatal. I lost 16 trees that year and it was painful because many of the trees were going into 3rd leaf and were having great growth and were ready to bear fruit that year. I replanted and this year had no issues with mice or rabbits or voles

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farm for fun and relaxation and keep those deer growing. Located in Bradford County East Smithfield Northeastern PA

I would yank them out and plant some new trees. The window screen will protect from mice, or use Tomcat bait blocks one per tree, in bait stations, put out just before the first snow.

Take the trees you pulled out and saw them off where the mouse chewed them. Plant the roots in your garden and see if they put up a sucker. If its root sucker, graft to it next spring. If its apple sucker, let them go 3 years then cut all but the healthiest one off.

Ben

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A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions--as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.

Another option is to cut it off at the chewed place. Bury the whole thing under a foot or so of nice light topsoil. (Either where it is or in a pot) As the root stock grows up through it, in hopefully a number of places, you can cut off the rooted shoots and make more clonal rootstock for future grafting projects. If your tops die, always look to save and propagate the rootstock. Good hunting. "D"

a couple guys here know a heck of a lot better than me how to do it, and have written guides, top working apple trees is I think one of them. take a look through those threads and adapt what you see in their pics to what you see with your trees. they show branches off the ground being grafted, use your trunk where it looks alive and well below the chewed areas. For the scions, go to the tops of the trees chewed and pick some small branches that look a lot like theirs do, follow their guide and cut them to size and graft them to the viable bases. this is also a good time to clone up a particularly good apple that you have.

I think I bought a 25' roll of 36" aluminum window screen and it was maybe $20 at a big box store. I then cut it into like 10"-12" pieces with a utility knife, fold in half, staple. As others have said, Snow is the main reason for going to 36".